


Improbabilities

by bookspazz



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Threesome - F/M/M, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-06 08:34:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/416852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookspazz/pseuds/bookspazz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There were many things that Steve had never dreamed would happen to him”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Improbabilities

There were many things that Steve had never dreamed would happen to him. He’d never imagined that one day he would become a super soldier, twice the size of the scrawny kid he’d been before. He’d never considered the possibility that he would crash into a giant block of ice and sleep for 70 years. But if you’d told Steve Roger that he would be in three romantic relationships at the same time he would have hid his laughter and wondered if you really knew him at all. And yet it was the honest-to-goodness truth though even Steve still couldn’t believe it.  
The first one was with Tony Stark. Really, Steve should have seen that one coming a mile away. There was no one more unlikely and so no one more certain. Loud, stubborn, self-destructive, narcissistic Tony Stark had somehow shoved past every barrier Steve had, some that he didn’t even know existed.

But Tony Stark was there now. Permanently. For better or for worse. Disregarding orders, shooting terribly suggestive grins in Steve’s direction, hunching over some ridiculous piece of technology or other until the early hours of morning when even Steve couldn’t persuade him into bed.

Tony Stark was stuck between Steve’s teeth like a stubborn piece of salad, not that Steve would ever want to get rid of him. That would have meant getting rid of the hidden kindness that was Tony Stark. It would have meant losing the pride and warmth that came from finally coaxing all the hidden insecurities within Tony’s metal armor out of his mouth and into the open where they might be able to breathe for a while if not disappear completely. Getting rid of Tony Stark would have meant no more messy post-mission sex, no more shutting up his constant chatter with a sneak attack kiss to the back of the neck, no more suggestive phrases in public that made Steve turn a bright lobster red. And so Tony stayed, sandwiched between Steve’s sheets, hidden in all his dresser drawers. He was a tick that would not let go, as if Steve even wanted him to.

Then there was Pepper. She had sidled up next to Steve in silence, caught him unawares in a way even more successful than any of Natasha’s stealth maneuvers. Her pillar of warmth had become a constant presence in Steve’s life before he even knew it was there. She was an open palm on his back, an unspoken word of sympathy. She always knew when was the best time to bring him a cup of coffee or a moment of companionable silence.

Of course she had other things to do, companies to run, genius playboy philanthropists to keep in check. Sometimes without Pepper Steve would feel lonelier than the day he woke up from his confusion and realized that everyone he had ever known was gone, had lived their lives, and he hadn’t been there to see it. But when he was at his lowest, Pepper was there anyway, not a replacement or a solution but a balm, who let him dance with her and sweep her into bed when she was so tired she could barely stand, who watched him cook breakfast in his underwear, who laughed when he gave up on electronics for the millionth time, who sighed happily as he massaged the stress from her neck and shoulders. It made him want to sing whenever he was finally able to convince her to lie in bed for a bit longer, to take off her shoes and stop trying to fix the world for just a minute. If Steve could have one thing to carry in his pocket for the rest of his life it would be Pepper’s eyes when she smiled, the silent laughter that convinced him time after time that it would all be okay.

Steve was in a relationship with two people simultaneously. And just to make things in a bit more complicated, he had one more relationship on top of it all. He was dating the entity that was Pepper and Tony, the funny creature that came to life when they were together, four eyes staring at him with equal amounts of love that made Steve queasy. He felt nervous at the thought of all that was leaning on him, the trust, the hope, the happiness that he used all his superhuman strength to hold together.

It was so incredibly worth it. Pepper and Tony looking up at him from their work. Pepper and Tony curled up next to each other in the light of the early morning, Tony’s hand over Pepper’s waist. Pepper trying to get Tony to sign these damn papers please it will really only take a second no you cannot go to godknowswhere this weekend you have work to do, Tony. Pepper and Tony falling into each other’s arms and kissing like there was no one else around, no one of course but Steve. Pepper and Tony opening their door, Tony’s hand slipped possessively around her waist, staring up at Steve like he owned them both, daring someone to even think of challenging that notion. Pepper and Tony, naked and out of breath, moving their hands incessantly from each other to Steve as if they were searching for something to grab hold of. Pepper and Tony ganging up on him, Pepper and Tony sneaking touches every time they passed him in the hall, Pepper and Tony sinking down next to him on the couch, Pepper’s head on his lap, Tony’s arm around his neck.

There were days when he thought he couldn’t possibly be worth all this love. There were other days when he wondered how it even worked at all. Between Pepper yelling at Tony and Tony yelling at Steve and none of them knowing what they’d done wrong or how to fix it, some days Steve thought it could never last.

But it did. In the morning when Steve found himself in an empty bed he would rise with a sick feeling in his stomach and an apology on his tongue and they would find each other. All three of them would stumble into one room at random, trying to see who could apologize first, tumbling headlong into each other’s arms. And when they woke the next morning, all three in one beautifully big bed, Steve would shake his head and smile. He didn’t know how it worked, but it did. As he looked over at the light playing across Tony’s back and Pepper’s hair stuck to her cheek he would feel something rising heavy and hopeless in his chest. A breathy “I love you” would escape from his lips and Tony would open one eye and smile smugly back at him. “Both of you” Steve would finish and Pepper would smile too, her eyes still closed.

Steve wasn’t very good at reading people, he never had been, but the two smiles aimed in his direction looked quite a lot like a “We love you too”


End file.
